One of the strategic objectives for the period 2015-2020 speaks to strengthening our business model through diversification of our examinations portfolio, segment profile and geographic markets. This section of the report, provides information on activities and initiatives undertaken by divisions in 2017 aimed at accomplishing this objective. Examinations Administration and SecurityIn keeping with the strategic objectives, the Examinations Administration and Security Division (EAS) focused on activities to strengthen the product offering, reduce the costs of operations in the delivery of services to our stakeholders and contribute to the overall improvement of the Council’s operation. Support for the expansion of product offerings continued with the management of the Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Guyana national examinations. In keeping with the organization’s plan to acquire ISO 9001 certifications, the division continued its work on process reform. With the assistance of the Quality Officer and Business Analyst, processes in the division were reviewed, standardized and performance metrics redefined. The new metrics were identified to facilitate improved operational improvement and monitoring and thus better positions the organization to attract new business opportunities. Future Look Improved planning and standard operating procedures will support improved internal operations. Along with better recruitment, trained Examining Committees and Markers, improved reliability is expected in 2018 and beyond. Corporate Strategy and Business Development Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Information Systems DivisionThe strategic vision of the organisation is fully embraced by the Information Systems Division as it continues to support the core businesses of CXC. As the Council continues to chart the course towards electronic testing (e-testing), the division has been tasked with ensuring the security of the systems that are implemented and the seamless transfer of data across those systems and other applications within the organisation. Continuous improvement is one of the corner stones of this division. The electronic SBA (e-SBA) was initially deployed last year to facilitate the uploading of SBA files, but it has further enveloped the concept of group work and the submission of scores and files on a group basis. The implementation did not occur as smoothly as was anticipated, nonetheless, the cornerstone of improvement was evident as we sought to enhance the user experience and rectify the issues. As we review our systems, it is important to look beyond the immediate and grasp the possibilities which may occur within the future. The e-SBA and e-testing systems bring with them digital transformation which is required for the era in which the Council exists. In the third quarter of the year, the unified conference system was upgraded throughout the organisation. The expectation is that the upgrade should improve conferencing quality with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, various business owned specialise systems were upgraded to ensure improved functionality. One of the future benefits to be realised from the conferencing upgrade is that our stakeholders will possibly be able to communicate with CXC with little or no long distance charges applied. We continue to work towards that objective as we provide a medium by which CXC is accessible to its customers. CXC is considered an IT-intelligent organisation. Technology is interwoven into most if not all of the business processes. For that reason, staff identified within the division have attended cyber security training, and have delivered security and other pertinent training to fellow colleagues. It is important that we keep ourselves current and are aware of the threats that lurks within this digital world. It is also important that all employees become aware of possible threats and how to identify those threats. Finally, the quest to improve our IT service delivery has been paramount and we continue to do this by rolling out and promoting our IT Service Portal, which provides users with a self-help knowledge base and easy to use templates to create their request. As we reflect on this year’s challenges and successes, we look forward, attempting to improve our service delivery and, provide secure, reliable and available systems to meet and exceed stakeholders’ expectations. Examinations Development and Production Division The Division is responsible for developing and preparing examination papers for CXC programmes, and other programmes that CXC is contracted by other organizations to develop and/or administer.
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